Metal platform



F. l. PEASE.

METAL PLATFORM. 7 APPLICATION FILED DEC. H, 1918- 1,359,835. Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

. -UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

or AKRON, orno, ASSIGNOR TO THE B. r. eoomucn COMPANY, or

FRED I. PEASE,

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

METAL rLA'rronM.

Patented Nov. 23,1920.

Application filed December 11, 1918. Serial N0. 266,358.

'1 '0 all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I, FRED 1. Fraser a citizen of the United States, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Metal Platform, of which the following is a speclfioation.

This invention relates to the construction of metal platforms, and especially those employed for loading and transporting goods about a factory, warehouse, yard or elsewhere by means of small hand or powerdriven trucks, which are adapted to be inserted under the platform and between the legs or runners thereof and elevated to lift it off the floor and allow it to be moved about by the truck. Heretofore, such platforms have generally been constructed of wood, and have been comparatively shortlived on account of the rough use to which they are subjected. My object is to provide an improved metallic structure which will have a considerably longer life than the wooden platforms, will be light and easily handled and may be manufactured at amoderate cost.

Of the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, showing a metal platform constructed according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 22 of Fig. 1

The main members of the platform are made of sheet metal, such as steel, whlch may readily be shaped to the desired form by pressing and bending with suitable dies,

. said members comprising a substantially-flat top plate or load-supporting member 10 and a pair of trough-shaped longitudinal legs or runners 11. The top plate is stiffened by means of a series of transverse, parallel,

depressed grooves or corrugations 12, 12 formed therein and. preferably extending from edge to edge as shown, and it is further stiffened and finished at its two ends by means of depending flanges 13 parallel to the corrugations. The runners may be attached to the top plate in any suitable way, but are preferably secured by beingelectrically spot-welded to the under side thereof, each runner having the longitudinal upper margins of its two upright side portions bent outwardly away from each other to form attaching flanges 14:. These flanges provide an ample, surface for connection with the plate/10, and they serve to stiffen the runners against deformation in use. The runners add greatly to the stiffness of the top plate. The flanges ltare formed with short transverse grooves or corrugations 15 nesting or interfitting with the corrugations 12 of the top plate, and the side walls 16 of the runners are bent outwardly in a series of vertical darts or depressions 17 of tapered form extending from the corrugations 15 part-way down the sides of the runner, these darts adding stiffness to the runner and also enabling the corrugations 15 to be formed in the metal more readily than if the latter should spring directly from the planes of the flat'metal sides. The bottom of each runner is preferably provided with a pair of wooden wearing blocks or shoes 18 located at the respective ends to decrease noise vand prevent the marring of floors, these .blocks being detachably secured to the'middle or bottom walls 19 of the runners (constituting the soles thereof) by means of bolts 20, one of which is shown in Fig. 2, which enable the blocks to be readily renewed when worn or broken.

A metal platform constructed in this manner may be manufactured at a moderate cost and is light,'easily handled, and far more durable than one made of wood.

It will be obvious that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A platform comprising a sheet-metal top load-supporting plate formed with stiifemng corrugations, and a sheet-metal runner attached to the under side of said plate and including an upright web formed with a lateral attaching flange corrugated to fit the corrugations of the top plate.

2. A platform comprising a sheet-metal load-supporting plate formed with a series of depressed, transverse, stiffening corrugations, and a trough-shaped, sheet-metal, plate-supporting runner having the margins of its upright webs formed with longitudinal, outwardly-extending flanges secured to the under surface of the plate and corrugated to fit the corrugations in said plate.

A platform comprising a sheet-metal said plate, said. runner having stiflening top plate formed with a series of depressed darts bent in its upright Web and extending stiffening corrugations, and a longitudinal downwardly from the corrugations in the 10 I trough-shaped sheet-metal runner having a flange.

5 horizontal marginal flange connecting it In testimony whereof I have hereunto with the under side of the top plate and set. my hand this 7th da of December, 1918. formed with corrugations fitting those of F ED I. PEASE. 

